We often find ourselves spending a lot of money for our pets and most of the time; we find it’s pretty hard to keep up with the spending especially with the increasing cost of fish foods, electricity, water test kits, and medicine. So despite all that, the question always comes about on how we can make something in return for all the effort that we’ve put in? Wouldn’t it be cool to actually make some money and continue to enjoy doing the things that we like to do most? The topic that I’m going to cover here touches on some of the ways we can make money from our fishkeeping hobby and (if not) probably make enough just to cover back the cost of daily expenses. Some of the approaches involve methods that are directly related to the hobby itself while others may need some extra works which are not so direct to say.
Breed and sell
If you know the tricks about fishkeeping and have put in a lot of effort to ensure that your pet fish are well taken care of, you can actually breed and produce young baby fish enough to sell off. Forget about livebearers or some other fast-producing fish like platy, because numbers don’t count and in fact most fish stores won’t even buy back from you. Well, unless you are into fancy guppies which could probably fetch about 20 bucks a fish, trust me, you won’t actually make something decent in return to even cover back the amount of time and overall expenditure. For me, I prefer exotic and rare fish species like arowana or discus because these fish can fetch few thousands dollars by selling to collectors and this would be enough to cover back the investment that you’ve put in especially for buying those expensive pumps, aquariums and such. Here's the list of most expensive freshwater pet fish for your consideration.Trading pet supplies
Getting to know the circle of people around you especially those in your niche does help. That means it would be a good idea to hook up with the local community fish clubs and the most effective approach is being part of active contributing members. With that relationship in mind, how many of you actually given the thought of doing some trading in pet supplies? This might sound complicated at first but it’s nothing more that just the standard approach of buying low from some auction house and then sell it high to the right people who wanted the stuff urgently. Based on what I’ve seen thus far, second hand used aquarium filters and fish tank are your best bet and there are people who were willing to let go and sell it off for a cheap price especially for those who were quitting the hobby. Also there are also the groups of people who can’t afford or are just not willing to pay for an expensive unit so they wouldn’t mind getting a used stuff instead. And that is where you come in to fill the gap and make money off it, but first as I’ve said earlier, you need to establish yourself within the niche first.
Offer services for a price
Fishkeeping may not be for everyone because it can be very time consuming. For those working executives or managers who can’t spend enough time taking care of their pets full time but still want to enjoy the pleasure of fishkeeping might want to consider acquiring services of people who can do the difficult part for them like tank cleaning and changing water. There are also some hobbyists who actually lack the confidence to do it themselves and thus would like some extra help and so that’s where you come in to the picture. Like I’ve said earlier, if you have known a lot of people and then building your reputation around them, people wouldn’t mind paying for your time and presence. Think of it like being a consultant or expert cum service provider. It all depends on how you look at it.
Sell fish photos
Stock photos can be sold without requiring any investment other than your camera. Although many frown upon the idea as they don’t believe anyone can actually make much out of it, however if you have "quality" photos especially of your well-decorated tank, fish, or even aquatic plant, I’m sure people wouldn’t mind paying for it. I won’t mention which third party sites you can sell you photos, just Google and you will find tons of information to help you out. There are easily about 10 stock photography sites out there to sell your masterpiece and since your pets are already there on display, why not snap the perfect moments and generate some money in return. Just some tips to help you get started; photos of marine aquariums are definitely hot selling items. View my freshwater fish photo gallery.
Blog and write about your experience
Websites, blogs and journals are not something new. In fact with very little web design experience or knowledge, anyone can choose a simple platform which can help to simplify the task of writing down your fishkeeping journey and experience and then share with your visitors about the hobby. From there depending on your choice and other options available, you can decide to generate some money by placing some ads or sell off the advertising space. Although this is not a direct approach and might require some extra skills, depending on how you go about doing it, it is actually not that hard to learn. A word of advice though, try not to treat the blogs or websites as a serious venture or big mega business, just think of it as a way to supplement some income to support your hobby. So, that’s about it. If you are creative, the list of options will go on and on.
